House passes 6-month spending bill

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House has voted to put the government on autopilot for six months as its last major act before leaving Washington next week to campaign for re-election.

The temporary spending bill would avert a government shutdown when the current budget year expires Sept. 30 but punts hundreds of decisions on the day-to-day operating budgets of Cabinet agencies to next year. The bill passed Thursday on a bipartisan 329-91 vote.

GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan returned to the Capitol to vote for the measure even though it permits spending at a pace well above the stringent budget plan he authored this spring.

The measure instead permits spending on pace with the slightly higher budget "caps" permitted under last summer's hard-fought budget and deficit-reduction deal between President Barack Obama and Republicans.